Where are you, when I need you the most?
by BLForever15
Summary: Set after ep 6x01. Brooke was beaten and pushes herself into a dark place. Will she get out? What else will happen and who will she turn to? Eventually Brucas!
1. Chapter 1

Eventually Brucas!

After 6x01.

Tell me if I should continue and please review!

Chapter 1

"Brooke?"

She froze. _Of all days, someone's here today. Why today?,_ She thought. _Who is it anyway?_

She inched herself closer and closer to the door until the person called out again.

"Brooke?" The person said a little louder.

_Fine._ She slid on her sunglasses and slipped into her robe, and pulled the door open slowly.

"Hey, I knew you were here and.." Haley trailed off, taking in Brooke's appearance. "You're wearing sunglasses?"

Brooke still didn't answer, she just stared at Haley blankly, under the sunglasses.

"Why?" Haley questioned, when she was sure Brooke wasn't gonna answer.

She took off the sunglasses cautiously, forming a plan in her mind. "Don't freak out." Her voice raspy and monotoned, very unlike Brooke.

"Brooke, oh my god what happened?" Haley's eyes widened when she saw Brooke's horribly bruised eyes.

"I was..doing laundry and I got all tangled up..and fell down the stairs." She tried to be convincing.

Haley looked in disbelief. "Brooke.."

"Yeah, it hurts really bad, remind me to never do laundry again." She attempted a joke.

"Brooke."

She stared at Haley blankly again, Brooke knew she didn't believe her.

"Why don't you try telling me the truth this time?"

"I just did."

"You expect me to believe that you..got all banged up like that from falling down stairs?"

Brooke stared down at the floor.

"And those markings on your neck? Where'd that come from?" Haley asked softly.

"Haley.."

Haley noticed the scared and far away look in her friends eyes and became really worried.

"Sweetie you can tell me anything." She touched Brooke's arm supportingly, only causing Brooke to flinch away from her.

"Can you leave? Please..I need to be alone." Her tone didn't change at all.

Alone. The fact is, she_ hates_ being alone. But she didn't know how to deal with this.

Haley nodded, giving Brooke one last look and walking out the door.

_Alone._

"Brooke is acting strange, and her face is all bruised up, her neck too. But she won't tell me why, I asked why and she snapped at me." Haley said to Nathan, then turned to find Lucas on the other side of her.

"Woah what?" Luke tensed up at the thought, and Nathan sent Haley the same questioning look.

When Haley began to tell him again, Lucas shook his head and started out the door.

"Luke, where are you going?"

"I have to go see her."

Lucas knocked on the door. Peyton answered.

"Luke? Did you come to help me pack?" Peyton asked, she wasn't expecting him to show up at that time.

"Yeah..where's Brooke?" He asked, trying to sound casual.

"I don't know, she hasn't answered her phone all day, she's probably at the store."

"Yeah..yeah, probably so."

They both froze when they heard a noise come from Brooke's room. As they turned their head, they were both shocked to see what was in front of their eyes.

"Brooke? What happened?" Peyton asked, concern etched all over her face.

"I..I fell." _Come on Brooke, you can make something up. fell from..what?_ "Yeah, I fell... from the stairs."

"Really? Oh gosh I'm so sorry I wasnt here!" Peyton said.

_Oh my god are you really believing that load of crap, Peyton?, _Lucas thought. He started to examine Brooke more, and noticed the markings that Haley was talking about on her neck.

Brooke glanced at Lucas, he looked like he was in one of his broody moments. She didn't dare look him in the eyes, because the look on his face made it clear that he didn't believe her.

Peyton spoke again, "Me and Lucas are engaged!"

"Really? I'm happy for you P, Sawyer.." She said, no change in her tone.

"I'm gonna miss it here with you."

"Yeah me too.."

"Well I'd love to stay here and chat but I have work to get to, see you guys later.." She walked out the door, leaving the two alone with their thoughts.

_Some thing is going on with her,_ Peyton thought.

_She is acting beyond strange, yeah and she got two black eyes, marks on her neck, and bruises on her forehead from falling down the stairs? I don't think so. Plus, that look in her eyes.. like scared or lost. It's just not her. I'm gonna find out what's wrong. _Lucas thought.


	2. RPG

Hey I was just wondering if anyone wanted to be on my RPG site, I just started it so no one is on it yet, which means no characters are taken, except Brooke :P . So if anyone wants to join, here's the link.. and this will be replaced with a chapter when I update my story!

Here's the link - treehillroleplay./index.cgi

edit- the link wont show, so its www. treehillroleplay . proboards107 . com / index . cgi

with NO spaces 


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Brooke was getting ready for Quentin's funeral. He way a boy that in time had grown really close to Nathan, Lucas, Haley, and Jamie. She didn't know him, but she knew how close he was to the Scott family and that just made her more bitter. The fact that he had to die for absolutely nothing.

There was a sharp knock on the door, breaking her train of thoughts and causing her to jump.

"Who is it?"

"Nathan."

She opened the door, letting him in. "Hey Nate, come on in."

Nathan stepped in, giving her a sympathetic look.

"Pretty rough day, huh?" She started.

"Yeah.."

"I wish there was something I could do for you..or Haley, or Jamie."

"Actually, I was hoping I could do something for you. I mean, Haley told me about Victoria and I've dealt with parent insanity before."

"I'm fine, really."

"That sounds like something I would say...I hope it's true, and maybe it is but..I just want you to know that you don't have to go through it alone. And this Quentin thing is gonna be a prominent thing in our lives for awhile but..it doesn't mean that your problems are any less important..It doesn't mean that we're not here for you.."

He paused for a moment, sending her a soft smile. "When I lost my dream, I went through it alone and it was stupid..So if Victoria is trying to take your dream away, I'm gonna be really pissed off if you don't come to me and talk about it, ok?" He smiled a little.

"Come here." He said, pulling her for a hug, she layed her head on his chest.

The gang sat in Naley's house, on the couch.

"It's so sad what happened. Not just to Quentin but to anyone." Peyton said.

"Well, statistics say that 1 out of every 500 people gets assaulted or raped and.." Brooke said, but stopped when she saw the face of the little boy she loved so much, Jamie, looking at her with anger in his eyes.

"I-I'm sorry..I didn't..." She trailed off, hurrying outside of the room and to the pool, while the other's watched in confusion at her sudden outburst.

Brooke stood a few inches from the edge of the pool, staring down at her reflection in the water, disgusted. Tears were crowding her own eyes as she felt a hand touch her arm. She turned to find Lucas and quickly brushed away her tears.

"I'm sorry, do I need to talk to Jamie?" She sighed.

"No, but you can talk to me. Brooke, are you okay?"

"Yeah, its just everything with Angie, and Victoria..and..falling down the stairs, it's just a lot."

"Yeah that must have been some fall.." He said. "Where'd those come from?" He points to the hand marks on her arm.

"When I fell.." She said uneasily.

"And those marks on your neck?" He questioned, standing in front of her eyes, forcing her to look at him.

"Lucas.."

"I know you didn't fall down the stairs, Brooke. Black eyes, hand marks on your arm, and damn it.. hand marks on your neck do NOT come from falling down the stairs." He said, raising his voice as he shuddered at the thoughts running through his head.

Brooke stared back down at the pool.

"Brooke, who did this to you?" He asked firmly, but lowering his voice. He was trying his best to remain calm, but inside he was angered at the fact that someone would hurt her. _How could someone do this to my Pretty Girl. What? I mean.. how could someone do this to Brooke, not my Pretty Girl. Well she was but..no, no. Peyton. I am with Peyton. Yeah...then why does it feel so wrong to think? Oh, forget it._

Brooke shrugged.

"When you're ready to tell me, I'm here." Lucas said, pulling her into a hug.

They walked back into the house, all eyes on them.

The funeral went by slow in Brooke's mind. He didn't deserve to die. Which proved to her that she still didn't believe in karma. Bad things happen to good people. Before she knew it, everyone was walking back to their cars. She saw Lucas watch her for a moment, then she started walking too.

Brooke began walking also but stopped when she saw Nathan and Haley turn around to see Jamie, who was staring at Quentin's casket.

Brooke turned to see him. "I'll get him." She said to Naley, then made her way to her godson. She stood by his side and placed her hands in front of her, together.

She watched Jamie take out what looked like a red cape with a "Q" on it. He placed it on the casket.

Brooke watched the little boy who was struggling not to cry, and she found herself in the same place. She was on the verge of tears as well. Everything that had happened in the past couple of days had come into her mind and she let out a few tears, which soon turned into a bunch of tears and sobbing.

She felt her godson grab her hand. Thank god for him.

They stood in the same place for a few minutes, then she felt someone tapping her arm, then he took her into his arms. She fell backwards, into him. Her legs gave out on her as she fell to the ground, taking Lucas with her.

"Hey, hey..it's ok..shh,." He whispered to her, while running his fingers through her soft hair, and using his thumb to rub her shoulder softly.

Her sobbing only got louder and worse, as her tears increased.

"Shh..I've got you. You're gonna be okay." He whispered confidently.

Jamie knelt down by them when he realized Brooke was crying. "Aunt Brooke, are you okay?" He asked, sadness visible in his voice and tears filling his eyes. "Don't worry, I told Q all about you, okay?"

Lucas looked at Jamie while he tried to calm Brooke down. "Buddy, Aunt Brooke's just going through a lot right now, alright?"

Jamie nodded. "Okay." He leaned closer to Brooke, wrapping his small arms around her body in a hug."It's okay Aunt Brooke." Jamie pulled one of his arms from around Brooke's body and began wiping her tears with his small thumb.

Lucas smiled at the sight, he knew that Jamie and Brooke were close but..not this close. This was just the cutest think he had ever seen.

His thoughts were interrupted by Jamie tugging on her shirt. "Come on Uncle Lucas, she needs a hug."

Lucas joined Jamie in hugging Brooke tightly, Luke kissed her cheek softly.

"I guess that's a yes." Jamie mumbled, a small smile appearing on his face.

"What?" Lucas asked, clearly confused.

"Well, I asked you if you were ever in love with Aunt Brooke and now I know you were." Jamie grinned.

"And why is that?" Lucas asked, uncomfortably.

"Because you kissed her."

"I kissed her cheek, Jamie."

"So? A kiss always means something." Jamie replied, repeating Brooke's words.

Lucas didn't know what to say back, so he quickly changed the subject.

"Come on you two." Lucas pulled away from the hug. "I'll take you both home."

"No! I wanna stay with Aunt Brooke! Are you going to leave her all alone Uncle Lucas?"

"Alright buddy, I'll call your mom and tell her you're with me. Now let's go."

"But you have to stay too. You can't leave her alone. She hates being alone!" Jamie said, tears reappearing in his eyes.

"Hey don't cry.." Luke said, knowing what Jamie said was true. "I won't leave."

Brooke spoke up for the first time. "What about Peyton?"

"She's with Nathan and Haley. I told her I needed a moment with Quentin alone."

Brooke just nodded and looked back down.

"Alright now let's go." He held Brooke's hand and walked with them to the car, headed to Brooke's house.

Jamie whispered to himself. "I knew it!" He smiled, as a plan formed in his mind.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

--

Lucas opened his eyes slightly the next morning, and turned his head to the side to see that he was the first to wake up. Him, Brooke, and Jamie had fallen asleep on the couch, and somewhere in the night, Brooke's head found Lucas' chest and layed there for the rest of the night. Also, somewhere in the night, Lucas had his arms wrapped around her and this is the same position they are in at this very moment, with Jamie clinging onto Brooke.

Lucas couldn't help but smile at the position they were in. But for some weird reason, he didn't want to ever get out of the position. He decided that he wanted to be the one there for Brooke, he wanted to save her. And he was going to make sure that he would.

Lucas was brought out of his thoughts as he noticed J-Luke with a grin on his face, staring at him.

Jamie grinned. "Uncle Luke, watcha doin?"

"Well, I was sleeping..." He replied, he forgot that his arms were still holding Brooke.

"I thought you were marrying Peyton." Jamie said innocently.

"I am." Lucas was confused.

"So then, why are you holding Aunt Brooke like daddy holds mommy at night?" Jamie said, still innocent.

"Ok J-Luke what are you getting at?"

"Nothin' just wondering." Jamie said with a shrug, as his grin reappeared.

Lucas was about to reply when he felt Brooke start to stir in his arms, so he decided to just drop the subject. Jamie's words were still in his mind thought, and they sure were making him rethink his decisions lately.

Brooke's eyes fluttered open and she looked back and forth from J-Luke to Lucas.

"Luke, you should get back home to Peyton. She's probably wondering why you didn't show up last night."

"Nah Brooke, it's fine. I called her last night and told her we were staying here. I'm just worried about you."

"I'm fine." She said shortly.

"J-Luke," Lucas said "Why don't you go play upstairs."

"K." Jamie nodded and ran off.

Meanwhile at Naley's house, Peyton barged in.

"Luke stayed at Brooke's last night." Peyton sighed, telling this to both Nathan and Haley, who both stared at each other, not knowing how to reply.

Haley started "Well, we know Jamie stayed at Brooke's but we didn't Luke did too. So.."

"Well he did!" Peyton snapped.

"Peyton, Brooke's going through a lot right now. She probably needs us to be there for her. ALL of us." Nathan said. "Besides, Lucas and Brooke are friends.." He said sarcastically.

"So you're taking her side?" Peyton said, offended.

"What sides?" Nathan said, beginning to get pissed. "I went to see her yesterday, she is not ok at all..hell, we all saw her outburst. Could you stop being so damn selfish?" He was getting pissed at how Peyton was acting like Brooke did something wrong.

Haley tried to calm him down. "Hun.."

"No, Peyton needs to hear this. We all know she's not fine. Even if she claims that she is. I mean I thought her best friend would be able to tell, but clearly I was wrong." He spat.

Peyton's eyes welled up with tears. "I'm sorry." She hurried out.

Lucas turned to Brooke. "Don't pull that 'I'm fine' crap with me. I know you're not. I remember when you told me you didn't like people to see you vulnerable, and I said.."

The brunette cut him off. "You said that's how you always see me."

Lucas nodded. "And I said I think it's beautiful."

"I'm not beautiful." She said coldly and turned away from him.

"Brooke..." He tried to get her to look at him, but she refused to turn her head.

"Brooke you are beautiful." He said gently.

She shook her head repeatedly. "No. He took that from me." She mumbled.

Lucas raised his eyebrows. "Who?"

Brooke realized she had said too much and began wiping her eyes "Nothing. It doesn't matter."

"God Brooke.." Lucas said, becoming frustrated. "Why doesn't anything you say, matter? It does! Now..who did this to you?" He gestures to the bruises covering his brunette friend.

"No one! Just drop it." She sighed, wishing desperately that she could be any other place but the place she was at.

"No, I won't drop it!" He said angrily, frightening her a bit. She had never seen him like this before.

"Luke, please. Forget about it." She begged him.

"I can't, not when you're hurting and trying to hide it like you are...do you think I can't see the pain in your eyes? That I don't care? Because trust me, I do. I just need you to let me in..Pretty girl, please." He begged her, blinking back his own tears.

Brooke felt her heart clench at his words, and the fact that he used his old nickname for her. Then she saw the tears in his eyes and immediately looked to the floor.

"I want to tell you, I really do. It's just hard to talk about..I still feel it, and I remember every detail and..I still feel his hands..." Tears began to stream down her face.

"And I still can't sleep at night, I think last night was the first night I slept since it happened."

Staring at the broken girl in front of him, Lucas made his way over to her, gently taking her into his arms before she could collapse on the floor. "It's okay, I'm here." He whispered.

The teary brunette stared straight up at him, about to thank him, when Lucas pressed his lips against hers, surprising herself, Brooke didn't pull away. She deepened the kiss. This was the feeling she had been missing.

Lucas' hands began to travel into her hair, brushing it, then down to her neck and down to her shoulders. As his hands began to travel down her upper arm, she jumped away from his and yelped. She let out a sob and her eyes were still closed, she was flashing back to the night of the attack.

"Please..no..you're hurting me." She begged and cried as she shrunk into the corner of the wall, pulling her legs to her chest.

It took Lucas a little while to realize what she was talking about, but when he did, he rushed to her side, only making her push herself more into the corner.

"Brooke.." He stared at her sadly, his heart sinking at the sight. "It's just me. Lucas. Nobody's here, and no one will ever hurt you. I promise." He tried. He didn't know exactly what had happened to her, but he knew it had to be horrible with how she was reacting. He shuddered at the thoughts entering his mind about what could've happened to her.

He stared into her eyes. "I promise, no one will hurt you again." He said as he cursed himself for having let her get hurt in the first place.

"Come here." He said gently, holding her head to his chest and rocking her in his arms until her breaths began to even out and her heart stopped beating at the incredibly fast rate it was a moment before.

Lucas rocked her until her tears came to an end and she calmed down. "You okay?" He asked.

"No." She admitted.

Jamie came in from around the corner. "Uncle Luke, can I talk to Aunt Brooke alone?" He asked.

Lucas looked at Brooke to make sure it was okay. "Sure." He went into the kitchen.

"Aunt Brooke, did someone hurt you?"

"Sweetie.."

"I heard you and Uncle Luke talking. Don't lie to me, Aunt Brooke. You promised you would never lie to me. Did someone hurt you?"

Brooke nodded. She couldn't lie to him. "Yeah buddy, someone hurt me really bad."

Jamie nodded sadly. "So when momma told me you fell down the stairs, it wasn't true?"

"No." Brooke said softly. "But everybody thinks it is."

Jamie grabbed her hand. "So what really happened?"

Brooke took a deep breath. It was gonna be hard telling the truth about the attack and having to relive it, but she had to...Or not?

--

**A/N: Hehe..cliffhanger! Kinda! Thanks for all the wonderful reviews and please keep reviewing it!**


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Aunt Brooke?" Jamie said, questions shown in his little blue eyes. "What happened?"

"Sweetie..." She started. "I..." She was cut off by Nathan walking in.

"J. Scott, let's go. Your mom is waiting in the car."

"Ok..." Jamie got up and walked to the door. "Bye Aunt Brooke, I hope you're okay." He lowered his head and walked out.

Nathan closed the door behind Jamie.

"Hey." He smiled sadly at her.

"Hey Nate." She smiled a bit forced,

"I have to go." Nathan said, hearing the horn honk. "But I'll come by later, I have to talk to you about some stuff." He hugged her and walked out.

"So Jamie left?" Luke asked, now joining Brooke.

"Yep.." She said uncomfortably and rushed to her room.

Brooke sighed as she stared into her mirror, dissappointed that her bruises had barely gone down.

She stared at the red words she wrote on the mirror. Words like revenge, payback...etc, all painted on her mirror. She flashed back to the night of the attack, sending shivers up her spine. She felt a hand tap her shoulder, causing her to jump and sob loudly, as she was already in tears.

"Brooke.." Lucas caught her in his arms and consoled her, while he stared at the frightening red words.

"What is all this?"

"I have to tell you something.." She said after she calmed down.

Lucas nodded, bracing himself for what he was about to hear, he knew it was bad.

"I was attacked." Brooke looked down, ashamed, as tears began to roll down her cheeks.

Lucas swallowed hard as he tried process the information that he had just received. He was feeling mixed feelings. He was angry at the person who did this to his pretty girl, he was sad that it had to happen to her, and he was hurt that she felt the need to hide it from him. He had so many things to say, but he remained calm for Brooke's sake. She looked so broken.

"When?" Lucas finally asked, his jaw tightening.

"The night you and Peyton went off to Vegas. I was locking up and he...he came in and..grabbed me before I could stop him.." Brooke said in a shaky voice, her bottom lip trembling.

Lucas felt his stomach turn at the sight of Brooke's body shaking violently in front of him as she explained what happened to her. Every detail. Tears were falling freely from her eyes, and Lucas simply couldn't take it anymore.

He sat her down with him on the couch, holding onto her tightly and felt tears rolling down his cheeks. "It's okay baby. It won't happen again, I promise." Lucas whispered softly.

After the crying subsided, Lucas spoke. "Hey, why don't you stay here and I'll go find us something to eat." He suggested, and began to stand, only to be pulled down by Brooke's hand.

"I'm scared." She said in a small voice while staring in fear at the door.

"It's locked Brooke." He tried to reassure her, but her face remained the same.

"Come on." He wrapped the blanket around her and lifted her off the couch in his arms. She winced in pain because he was touching the huge bruise on her back.

She tried to hide it and bit her lip, but Lucas could tell something was wrong so he sat her on the chair in the kitchen.

"What's wrong?" He asked, examining her.

"Nothing, I'm ok." She answered as she rubbed the bruised part on her back.

Lucas saw her rubbing a spot on her back and started to get worried.

"let me see." He said softly.

She shook her head, she hadn't let anyone see these bruises which lay on her body.

"Please lift up your shirt, let me see." He tried again, staring into her eyes.

She never could resist those eyes. "Fine.." She sighed.

She slowly lifted her shirt up, revealing the bruises on her back to Lucas. He sighed, quickly becoming angry at the person who did this to his pretty girl. He stood in front of her, the huge bruise that lay on her stomach coming into his view. She started at him uncomfortably as he looked like he was read to bite someone's head off.

Lucas grabbed his jacket and keys. "Come on."

Brooke looked confused.

"I'm dropping you off at Nathan and Haley's and then I'm.."

He tailed off, not once looking at her. He seriously looked as if he could kill someone.

"What are you doing Luke?" She pulled his arm, forcing him to look at her.

"You said you think Victoria had something to do with it." He paused for a moment, looking away from her, with a distant, cold look in his eyes.

"I'm gonna kill him..for ever laying a hand on you." He spat.

"Luke no, its not worth it."She pulled him from the door.

"Baby.." He blurted out without thinking. "Ok, but I'm staying here."

Brooke's heart beated faster at the name. "What about Peyton?"

"What about her?" He hadn't even thought about Peyton the whole time he was at Brooke's.

"Well, I mean..you live with her. She's probably worried about you."

"Brooke, I'm not leaving you alone."

"I'm fine.."

"No your not." He said firmly.

"Yes I am." She said stubbornly.

"Look, I'm not leaving."

"I can take care of myself."

"No you can't, " He said, but quickly regretted it.

"Excuse me?" Brooke said, offended, She begin to push herself away from him.

"I didn't mean.."

"Get out." She said coldly.

"No I.."

"Out!" She screamed and pushed him. "Go see your soon to be wife."

He could have sworn that he saw a flicker of hurt in her eyes when she mentioned Peyton, but she quickly hid it as she pushed him out of the door,


End file.
